Tol Varus

The continents of Tol Varus is the dry, high altitude continent to the far north. It has a low population that is centralized in a few small cities. The continent is famous for 8 large black monoliths standing in the middle of the desert. Magic is generally frowned upon while technology sees more use than the other continents.



Geography
Tol Varus is a largely empty desert with rugged mountains lining the northern and western shelves. It is about 60km long and 50k across. There is very little vegetation outside of the mountains along with little precipitation, although huge sandstorms are quite common. The inland portion of the continent is soft sand that can be difficult to traverse in places, as you move towards the shelf the ground gets harder and rockier. In the center of the desert is 8 ancient black monoliths arranged in a circle that are of unknown origin.

Population
Tol Varus has a small population at 200 thousand centralized in 3 major cities that consists primarily of orcs. 75% of the entire Orc population lives on Tol Varus. There is no capitol city due to the lack of structured government, but there are two very large cities, Thuurek and Mezzek, each with a population around 80 thousand. Thuurek lies in the northwest corner among the mountain and Mezzek lies in the center of the continent between the monoliths. The only other city of note is the southern city of Hark, which is the continent's port city. Hark has a much higher ratio of non-orcs compared to Thuurek and Mezzek, and a much smaller population at around 12 thousand. The rest of the population live in nomadic camps and small villages in the mountains.

Architecture
The architecture of Tol Varus carries little in the ways of aesthetics or order. Housing is simple and mostly consists of sandstone brick and sheet iron. Despite their appearance the buildings are built rugged to stand against the powerful sandstorms. Basements are also rare as they quickly fill with sand. Mostly due to the lack of government, the road system is mazelike and inconsistent. Most buildings were simply built wherever they could fit. The majority of the housing would be considered slumlike to travelers of other continents. Because of the high non-orc population of hark, the buildings tend to be more orderly and cleaner looking, although still quite simple.

Transportation
Transportation is limited in Tol Varus due to the harsh nature of the desert. There are no roads outside of major cities and one steam rail line connects Hark and Thuurek along the outer rim of the continent. Running a rail line to Mezzek is not possible due to the huge expanse of soft sand around it. The traditional form of travel is via stormbeast, large tamed lizards that can be ridden akin to a horse. Although not unseen in the major cities, stormbeasts are most commonly ridden by the desert nomads. Sand tracers are steam powered, treaded vehicles engineered by the orcs to quickly traverse the sand and are a common site around the cities. Orcs with sand tracers can be hired to get you out of Hark but it is an expensive service.

Military
There is no structured military in Tol Varus. Each major city has several militias who may call themselves the official guard of the city, but none of them answer to any unified power structure. Most of these militiamen are armed with firearms, as Tol Varus is the only place in which you will find firearms to be almost as common as traditional melee weapons. Powerful hand thrown explosives and armed sand tracers are also among the arsenal of both the militias and the desert nomads.

Culture
Tol Varus has a violent culture in comparison to other continents. Most crime problems are simply solved by violence, although the enforcement of these crimes may be considered crimes themselves by other groups. Magic is heavily looked down upon in all major cities. There are varying levels of distaste for magic among the population but it is safest to avoid its use. Because of this magic-phobia, technology is quite advanced with the use of powerful steam engines and firearms. The extend of this even led to the building of an orcish airship utilizing no magic, which provides transportation between Tol Varus and Shatterath.



 